Thank you.
Mr. Chair and members of the committee, good afternoon.
I'm pleased to be here today to discuss matters related to Bill S-7, the combatting terrorism act.
As you are probably aware, the director of CSIS spoke to Bill S-7 at the Senate anti-terrorism committee last April. As the bill has largely remained the same, what he said at the time remains valid, and as such, I will keep my comments related to the bill short.
Bill S-7 aims to provide the justice system and law enforcement with better tools to respond to terrorist activity that reaches a criminal threshold. Given that the service has no law enforcement mandate, we would not directly have recourse to the provisions envisioned by the bill. That said, as a member of the broader national security community, we are certainly supportive of any additional tools that will help our law enforcement partners better confront terrorism.
The amendments related to section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act recognize the importance of protecting sensitive information from public disclosure. Mr. Chair, CSIS welcomes these measures as they help prevent our operations, sources, and tradecraft from being compromised.
Mr. Chair, I will now turn from the details of the bill to the threat it seeks to address.
As our public report, recently tabled in the House of Commons, stated, “the greatest threat to Canada's national security remains terrorism”.
In Canada, terrorism has been associated with a variety of radical political and religious movements, so today, the most salient threat is that posed by violent Islamic extremism. This is a global movement and is represented by a variety of groups. Obviously, al-Qaeda and its affiliates are the best known and are of the most concern to Canadian and allied security services. However, in recent years, what we in the intelligence community called the al-Qaeda core has been significantly impacted. The death of Osama bin Laden and much of his al-Qaeda senior leadership has significantly weakened the organization.
Despite these successes, there remain concerning global trends, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. Recent events in North Africa and Syria have provided an opening for Al Qaeda-affiliated groups. This was dramatically revealed in the murders of American Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other personnel in Benghazi, Libya, at the hands of terrorists this past September.
Events in Syria are no less concerning. Syria presents many difficulties, particularly in separating those elements that will, over the longer term, contribute to regional stability from those that may engage in terrorism. Canada and our allies have welcomed the recent establishment of a more comprehensive Syrian opposition authority. There remain, however, Al Qaeda-affiliated forces operating throughout Syria.
It is CSIS's assessment that the situation in Syria will remain chaotic for the foreseeable future, and this will continue to offer a permissive environment for terrorist activities. As such, al-Qaeda affiliates will likely increase their presence and operations in the country. The military and intelligence support provided by Hezbollah and Iran to the Assad regime further complicates this conflict.
Supporting democratic transitions in the countries of the so-called Arab Spring, while limiting Al Qaeda and its affiliates' space to operate, will be an immense policy challenge for Canada, our allies, and the region.
Mr. Chair, switching now to the domestic sphere, CSIS continues to investigate hundreds of persons involved in terrorism-related activity that threatens Canada and our allies. The service assesses that there are approximately 50 Canadians—many in their early twenties—who have travelled or attempted to travel from Canada to Somalia, the Afghanistan-Pakistan tribal areas, Syria and Yemen to engage in terrorism-related activities in recent years. The spectre of these young people returning to Canada—with combat experience and thoroughly radicalized views—is a serious national security concern.
Any aid Bill S-7 can provide to alleviate and prevent some of this activity would be welcome. It should be pointed out that criminal sanctions are not generally a deterrent to terrorists who are motivated by extremist ideology, but as Bill S-7 would provide another tool to law enforcement, we are certainly supportive.
Mr. Chair, underpinning domestic terrorism is the radicalization of individuals to violent, extremist ideology, a phenomenon that requires greater study. In this regard, I would like to draw to the committee's attention an element of our recent public report that highlighted some conclusions of a CSIS study on radicalization in Canada. The study is an important milestone and one of the first of its kind in Canada. While much of the report is classified, I can share some of the conclusions for the committee's edification.
The study does not identify a predictable pattern or linear process for radicalization. Domestic extremists come from diverse backgrounds, age brackets, income levels, and education levels. All this to say, that there is simply no “terrorist type”.
However, several drivers do appear with some frequency, including significant feelings of injustice against western governments, societies, and ways of life. As well, there is the conviction that the Muslim world is under attack and requires defending through the use of violent jihad. These views are often promulgated through Internet propaganda, conspiracy theories, and charismatic leaders.
Mr. Chair, the required policy response is not obvious. Although these findings do suggest that undermining this narrative could aid in preventing radicalization, whether to, how to, and who would do this remain questions for policy-makers, the government, and parliamentarians such as you.
Mr. Chair, I am reaching the end of my allotted time. I will cede the floor to Ms. Beauregard and would then be pleased to deal with these and other issues in questions from the committee.
